Max Headroom: Gunswept
by ElegantButler
Summary: When grief drives one of their own to madness, Network 23 must deal with the consequences.
1. Chapter 1

MAX HEADROOM: Gunswept

Bryce had just sat down at the corner table in the Zik Zak Know Burgers restaurant when he

heard a girl's voice call his name.

"Bryce!"

He looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see Jenny standing there, smiling at him.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she said as he nodded to the empty chair across from himself in a gesture of invitation.

Jenny sat down.

"What brings you out of the Batcave?" she asked, cheerfully.

"Alfred wanted to do the laundry," Bryce replied, not missing a beat.

They both laughed as Jenny scarfed down a handful of crunch fries.

"So, what have you been up to?" Bryce asked her.

"Now, Bryce, you know I can't tell you that. Network secrets." Jenny smiled.

"Okay, so what about on a personal level?" Bryce asked her.

"Well, I…" Jenny began. Then she frowned and clutched at her throat in panic.

"Jenny?" Bryce asked as she got to her feet and almost immediately fell over, her face turning blue. "Jenny!"

Bryce started to go for the nearest vu-phone, but she grabbed his leg and he knelt beside her.

"Get help!" he shouted to the room in general.

Nobody moved. A couple people glanced around to see what the fuss was all about, only to return to their meals as if they couldn't care less.

Someone made a remark about stupid kids.

Bryce glared at them in anger.

"Are you deaf?!" he screamed at them. "I can't leave her! Call a goddamned ambulance!"

Still nothing. Jenny grabbed at him, her eyes desperate. Her expression pained.

Nobody moved, except to reach for a cola or wipe a daub of ketchup from their lip.

What was wrong with these people? Bryce wondered. Were they so addicted to mindless entertainment that they would just sit there and watch a girl die just for the thrill? Well, if that's what they wanted, then he would give them one hell of a thrill in a moment if she did die.

Jenny struggled to breathe, grasping at anything she could reach. Bryce took her hands in his own as he sat on the floor beside her, unable to help her.

A metrocop walked in and started to head to the counter.

"Are you blind?" Bryce shouted at him.

He turned and noticed them for the first time.

"I didn't see you," he apologized. "The table…"

But Bryce didn't hear him. Bryce only saw Jenny's lifeless body lying on the floor in front of him.

Jenny's lifeless body...

And the metrocop's sidearm...

A moment later the gun was in Bryce's hand.

Edison was in the Network 23 news chopper laughing at a joke Martinez had just told when Theora's voice came over the vidicam connection.

"Shots fired at the Zik Zak restaurant on the Old Queen's Road," she told him. "Murray wants you to get there and go live. Find out what the hell is going on."

"That's more like it," Edison said, relieved to not be interviewing Simon Peller. Anything had to be better than listening to that guy rambling on about his negative views regarding the Blanks and how much better people like him were. Then he realized he was talking about a situation where people might be hurt. Or worse. "Any casualties?"

"Bringing up satellite feed now," Theora said as she linked to the city's sat-cams. "Looks like at least ten. Can't tell how many are injured and how many are dead at this stage."

"We're just arriving," Edison told her. "Tell Murray to get ready to go live in three minutes."


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter Two-

The chopper got to the restaurant two minutes later and started its descent.

"How do I look?" Edison asked, as he looked into his camera lens.

"Perfect, Edison," Theora told him. "Murray's cleared us a five minute window."

"You really think that will be enough for something like this?" Edison asked.

"Rolling in two," Murray's voice said from near Theora.

"We'll do a newsbyte for now and fill in the rest of the story in your normal time slot."

The news chopper landed and Edison disembarked, running to the restaurant as the chopper moved away to minimize the noise.

Edison was setting up his vidicam for the best shot of the action when two metrocops ran past him. One of them was carrying a smoke-bomb.

"Looks like the guy's still in there," he said to Theora. "Maybe I can catch him as he comes out."

"Cheviot wants us to go live with this one," Murray told him.

"What happened to the days when the news respected everyone's privacy? Innocent or guilty?" Theora wanted to know.

"What's more important?" Edison asked. "Some killer's right to privacy or the public's right to be safe?"

He was polishing some dust from the lens that the chopper had kicked up when the restaurant door opened again. He started to lift the vidicam, then froze as Bryce emerged still holding the sidearm he'd stolen from the metrocop less than half an hour ago.

"It can't be…" Edison said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Put it down!" one of the metrocops demanded.

"Edison!" Theora's voice said over the link. "We don't have picture! What's going on?"

Murray's voice joined her. "Edison. Raise your camera. We need picture! Edison! Raise your camera!"

Immobile, his voice as dead as the bodies around him, Edison replied…

"No."


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

Murray and Theora traded shocked looks.

"Did he just refuse to do an important report?" Murray asked in disbelief.

"Yup," Theora said, darkly.

Murray leaned closer and spoke in a tone he very rarely used with Edison. "Edison, what the hell is going on?"

Cheviot's face appeared on the screen a moment later. "Tell Carter to either get that picture on air or he's out of a job. He's got five seconds."

"Did you hear that?" Theora asked on the vidicam link.

"Tell him I quit," Edison said, darkly. "I'm not airing this."

Murray made a split decision. Turning to the rest of the room he motioned for Janie Crane to take over.

Janie nodded and made for the exit as Theora turned back to the screen which was showing Edison's irate face.

"You'd better wipe that look off your face, Mr. Carter," she warned. "Murray's just sent Janie Crane down to replace you. So if there's something going on that you want to keep a firm grip on, I suggest you start doing your job. And doing in properly. Network 23 is…"

"Network 23 is going to go down like a ton of bricks in an inflatable raft if this gets out," Edison told her.

"Why?" Theora asked. 'Who did this?"

"Bryce."


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4-

Bryce glared at the metrocops, but did not lower his sidearm. If he'd noticed Edison, he didn't give any sign.

"Put it down," came the demand again.

Bryce shook his head. "Why should I listen to your requests? Nobody listened to mine!"

One of the metrocops raised his weapon and aimed it at Bryce. Edison watched in horror, unable to stop what was unfolding before him as Bryce raised his sidearm.

"No!" Edison heard himself scream as two shots were fired.

The metrocop fell over with a cry as Bryce collapsed.

Edison wanted to run over to Bryce, but Janie Crane arrived at that moment and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait," she told him, fiercely. She didn't know what Bryce's reason was for shooting up the place. But having dealt with the White Brigade, she wasn't too fond of him at the moment.

"Let me go! I have to get to Bryce!" Edison shouted at her.

One of the uninjured metrocops ran over to Bryce and crouched down beside him. Checking the boy's vitals, he looked up. "Just stunned," he said.

Edison's stomach stopped churning and the weight on his mind was lightened, though not entirely lifted.

Ambulances were called and Bryce and the cop he'd wounded were both taken to the

accident center for treatment.

Martinez arrived seconds later in the chopper and soon he and Edison were airborne while Janie Crane headed back to the network on her motorcycle.

Edison bustled his way into the waiting room of the accident center, elbowing past several other reporters who had found out about the shooting moments after the ambulances had arrived.

Rebuffed by several competitors, he slipped into the shadows, taking the opportunity to find out Bryce's location.

Bryce, it turned out, had been shot with a compliance gun. Edison suspected that they wanted to make sure Bryce survived to make an appearance on You The Jury so the families of the deceased could have their say. Not to mention it meant they wouldn't have to watch the Polly Show that evening.

Edison found the room he was being held in and stepped inside.

Bryce was unconscious, hooked up to a number of hospital monitors. HIs vitals seemed fairly normal. Edison suspected they were being used to make sure he stayed put.

"You'll have to leave," the cop guarding the room said. "reporters aren't allowed."

"I'm not here as a reporter," Edison told him. "I'm here as a friend."

"You admit you're a friend of this killer?" the cop glared at Edison.

"I don't turn my back on my friends," Edison said. He looked at Bryce, saw the tear tracks that looked so out of place on his young face. What had caused them, he wondered. What had been so bad that it had caused Bryce to shoot up a diner full of people?

The cop nodded grimly at Edison. He hated this boy who had almost killed his fellow officer. But he could not hate Edison. This was a good man who stood by his friends no matter what. It was a trait he admired, even if the friends in question didn't deserve it.

Bryce opened his eyes and watched them silently for a moment. He hoped they wouldn't notice he had regained consciousness. He had never been so afraid in his life. Not even when he'd nearly frozen to death in that thermal testing chamber at Security Systems.

When Jenny had died, he had felt angry. More angry than he'd even imagined he'd be able to feel. He wasn't sure why he felt that way. He wasn't sure now why he'd taken the gun from the metrocop's holster and had done what he'd done.

But at the time, it felt right. The anger. The gun. The shooting. He had felt vindicated. These people had let Jenny die. They had just sat there eating their food and drinking their beverages. And not one of them had moved to help.

Not even the staff.

"Bryce..." Edison began. "What in hell possessed you to kill all those people?"

Bryce looked away.

"Don't turn away from me, damn it!" Edison swore at him. "Bryce! Do you realize what you've done?! Those people are dead! You murdered them!"

"You don't seem to be shedding too many tears over Jenny," Bryce said, quietly.

"What does she have to do with this?" Edison asked.

"They…" Bryce began. Then he clarified in a hate-filled tone, "those people you're going on about, they let her die. I would've got help myself, but when I tried to leave, she wouldn't let go of me. She was dying, Edison! Asphyxiating! And they just sat there eating as if she didn't matter!"

"And you never learned the Heimlich or…?"

Bryce shook his head. "She wasn't choking, Edison. At least not on food. There was nothing to do the Heimlich for."

"Allergy?" Edison asked.

"She was allergic to peanuts. Maybe they changed to peanut oil?"

"More likely it was added by someone who wasn't paying attention."

"Or can't read," Bryce suggested.

"Or it was deliberate," Edison mused. That was something worth investigating. But it would have to wait.

"Jenny didn't have to die, Edison," Bryce said. "There was a room full of people. Any one of them could've helped."

"And that gave you the right to kill them? Okay, let's say they did deserve to die because of what they did… or didn't do. What about their mothers? What about their aunts… cousins… brothers and sisters… do they deserve to lose them?"

"Did Jenny's family deserve to lose her?" Bryce argued. "I know you want me to feel remorse over this, Edison. I wish I could. I wish I could agree with you that it's a terrible thing that I've taken them from their families. But when I think of what they did… how they just sat there and didn't lift a finger to help… I just keep thinking maybe those families are better off without them."


End file.
